THE EARL OF KIMBERLYMy Lords, I have to present a petition from the Birmingham School Board in which a number of the clauses of the Board of Education Bill are criticised. The noble Duke the Lord President of the Council will be very glad to hear that the petitioners approve generally of the Bill, but there are several provisions to which they have considerable objection. They are strongly opposed to section 2 of clause 3, which provides that the council of any county or county borough may, out of any money applicable for the purposes of technical education, pay or contribute to the expense of inspecting under this section of any school within their county or borough. This, they say, places the councils in a position of control over inspection. The petitioners also take very great exception to the action of the Education Department with regard to technical schools.